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This is a tale of two brand new polls. If you think you're confused now, wait till you read this.

One poll, of registered voters, was conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. It shows President Obama with a lead of six points over Mitt Romney, 49 to 43 percent nationwide. Last month the president led by only three percentage points.

Good news for President Obama.

The other poll, of likely voters, was conducted by Rasmussen Reports. It shows Romney ahead by three percentage points, 47 to 44.

Good news for Romney.

According to Rasmussen, 64 percent of those polled say they think government should cut spending to jump start the economy, a position more in tune with Romney than the president. Only 21 percent favor more government spending.

Rasmussen also reports that, "The data clearly shows why the president's 'you didn't build that' comments have created such a furor. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of voters believe that small business owners work harder than others. Seventy-two percent (72%) believe those who start businesses are primarily responsible for the success or failure of their own business. Most also believe that entrepreneurs create more jobs than either government programs or big business."

Back to the WSJ/NBC News Poll: Only 27 percent of voters think the economy will improve over the next year.

Very bad news for Barack Obama; potentially very good news for Mitt Romney.

And according to the Web site DC Decoder, "That's down eight points from last month. And that level of economic pessimism is very dangerous for an incumbent. In fact, it seems almost incredible - the political equivalent of defying gravity - for Obama to have gained ground in the horse race even as Americans' views on the economy have grown increasingly, alarmingly, sour.

"The question is whether Obama can continue to defy gravity like this all the way to November. Given the strikingly strong levels of dislike for Romney - who trails Obama by 20 points on likability in the poll - the president may still be able to stay on top. But we can't imagine it will continue to be this easy."

Rasmussen also has some interesting numbers regarding Electoral College votes.

He says Romney has 167 in the "safe" category; 3 in the "likely category" and 21 "leaning" to Romney. That adds up to 191 electoral votes.

President Obama has 180 in the "safe" category; 27 in the "likely" category; and 40 "leaning" in his direction. That comes to 247.

One hundred electoral votes are too close to call. It takes 270 to win.

Anyone who thinks either candidate is going to blow the other guy away isn't paying attention.

What I find troubling is that the election will come down to those who are still undecided. You know, the people who will get plenty of face time on television telling us how torn they are. Be assured that no journalist will report an indisputable fact: that these undecided will never be confused with anyone smart.

Do they say to themselves, "Let's see, on the one hand we have one of the most liberal politicians in ages running for re-election - someone I don't believe is doing much to help the economy. On the other hand, we have a businessman who I think will do a better job handling the economy and putting people back to work but I don't really like him. My oh my, who should I vote for?"

If you like Obama, fine. If you like Romney, fine. But anyone who can't decide between two very different candidates at this late date should not be allowed to vote.

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JWR contributor Bernard Goldberg, the television news reporter and author of several bestselling books, among them, Bias, a New York Times number one bestseller about how the media distort the news. He is widely seen as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. Mr. Goldberg covered stories all over the world for CBS News and has won 10 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism. He now reports for the widely acclaimed HBO broadcast Real Sports.

He is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey and a member of the school's Hall of Distinguished Alumni and proprietor of BernardGoldberg.com.

Previously:

•07/16/27: We've Set a Low Bar for 'Courage'
•07/11/27: Will Class Warfare Work?
•07/09/27: A Brave New World
•07/02/27: Now the Fun Really Starts
•06/19/27: You Can't Make This Stuff Up . . .
•06/19/12: I Would Have Fired Him Before He Got Back to the Office
•06/12/12: Time to Crush the Myth about Gender Pay Inequality
•06/06/12: The Desperate Campaign of Barack Obama
•06/01/12: Hey Fatso! Listen Up!
•05/25/12: Going After the Stupid Vote
•05/22/12: The X Factor(s)!
•05/15/12: Obama Has a Halo; Newsweek Has No Shame
•05/10/12: Authoritarians on Campus
•05/08/12: Obama's Path to Victory: Divide and Conquer
•05/01/12: President Cool Meets Reality
•04/25/12: Why Media Bias Matters
•04/17/12: NYT: At It Again
•04/13/12: Kissing up to the Rev. Al
•04/10/12: This Just In: War Breaks Out --- Thank You, Lord
•04/03/12: In Cold Blood?
•03/27/12: Trayvon Martin and Media Hypocrisy
•03/26/12: Time to Go, Rick
•03/22/12: Obama's Mantra: Don't Blame Me
•03/19/12: The U.N. Human Rights Council --- and other Jokes
•03/13/12: Bias in the News: Blame it on Their Zip Code
•03/06/12: Thank Heaven for Rich People --- a Second Look
•02/29/12: Some Free Advice for the Republican Field
•02/28/12: Do We Have a Right to Lie?
•02/16/12: Can Obama Win Re-Election by Promising Free Stuff?
•02/06/12: The 5 Stages of Mitt
•02/02/12: Florida Has Spoken; Cue the Fat Lady
•01/30/12: The Other Global Warming Story
•01/26/12: They See Racists Everywhere . . .
•01/24/12: The Arrogant and Clueless Mainstream Media
•01/23/12: Gingrich Wins SC --- Media Help Big Time
•01/18/12: A New Entry for 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America
•01/12/12: The Dream Ticket Could Be a Conservative Nightmare
•01/11/12: Now 'Anybody But Romney' Has a Name
•12/30/11: I Have a Confession to Make . . .
•12/27/11: Know When to Hold 'em and Know When to Fold 'em
•12/20/11: NBC News, the KKK and the State of Journalism
•12/19/11: Mitt and Newt: Two Rich Guys Arguing Over Money
•12/13/11: Donald Trump Is the Greatest; Just Ask Him
•12/12/11: Rob Peter to Pay Paul: Bad Economics! Good Politics?
•12/07/11: Yeah . . . and Fish Don't Know They're Wet, Either
•12/06/11: Did the Media Play Fair with Herman Cain?
•12/05/11: Obama to Blue-Collar America: Adios!
•11/29/11: We Can Stop the Crazy Train Before It Gets to Greece
•11/22/11: Who Can Beat Obama?
•11/15/11: The Dumbest Media Question I've Ever Heard
•11/09/11: What If Herman Cain Did It?
•11/08/11: What If Herman Cain Were a Lib?
•11/02/11: Who Can Beat Obama?
•11/01/11: We're Approaching the Tipping Point
•10/25/11: A Response to the Angry Purists
•10/18/11: They're Waiting for Reagan to Hit the Campaign Trail
•10/12/11: Read This!!! --- But Only If You Have Nothing Better To Do
•10/04/11: Can Obama Win Re-Election?
•09/27/11: It's NOT the Economy Stupid, It's Theology
•09/20/11: Bad News on the Doorstep
•09/09/11: Hypocrisy!
•09/06/11: Back to the Future
•08/24/11: Hillary vs. Obama in 2012? It'll Never Happen --- I Don't Think
•08/22/11: Warning: Conservatives May Be Harmful to Your Mental Health
•08/17/11: Warren Buffett, Coddled Billionaire
•08/11/11: Too Much Balance in the Media?
•08/04/11: All Aboard the Crazy Train
•08/01/11: Liberal Hate Speech
•07/25/11: With All Due Respect, Go Fly a Kite
•07/20/11: Who Is A Natural Born Citizen?
•07/18/11: Guess Who's Not Paying Their Fair Share
•07/12/11: Against More Taxes? You May Be a Terrorist!
•07/11/11: Casey Anthony: The TV Show
•07/06/11: Standards and Double Standards at MSNBC
•06/29/11: Is Jon Stewart A Racist?
•06/21/11: Let's Play the Race Card --- Just for Fun Of Course
•06/20/11: Sarah Palin and Weiner's Weiner
•06/03/11: Memo to GOP: Turn Mr. Obama into Mr. Yesterday
•05/20/11: I Get Letters From People Who Should Be Locked Up
•05/09/11: Is Torture Ever Justified?•05/02/11: The Promiscuous Use of the R Word•04/19/11: The Man Behind the Million Dollar Smile•04/12/11: What's the Difference Between Libs in Politics and Libs in the Media?•04/08/11: An Idea Whose Time Has Come  and Gone•03/28/11: The Pundits Are Driving Me Crazy --- And You Thought Qadaffi Is Nuts•03/14/11: No Liberal Bias at NPR  Just Ask NPR•03/10/11: The media's frustration •03/01/11: Progressives Lost in Time . . .•02/23/11: The Lamestreams Strike Again --- This Time in Madison•02/03/11: You MUST Own a Gun --- Or Else!•01/20/11: It Was Horrible, I tell you … HORRIBLE!•01/11/11: Here We Go Again . . .•01/06/11: You Go, Oprah•12/28/10: A Year-Ender --- The MSM and Obama's Fall from Grace
•12/14/10: Thank Heaven for Rich People